Danish one-man studio AwesomeBlade Software has announced that its retro-themed platformer 8-Bit Boy is coming to the Wii U.

Created by Rasmus Kønig Sørensen - a Danish ex-video game journalist with a bachelor degree in Construction Management - 8-Bit Boy is a love letter to the 2D platforming epics of old. Sørensen counts himself as a massive fan of the Master System, NES and Amiga 500, and it should come as no surprise to find that his creation shares a common bond with the likes of Mario, Sonic and Mega Man.

The background to the game itself is rather touching, as Sørensen himself explains:

The games storyline is somewhat based on my own story. Our hero is this depressed and unemployed 32-year old guy, who hasn’t been able to get a job after finishing his exams one year ago. Our hero gets sucked into this happy, vivid and colorful 8-bit world where he has to overcome many obstacles to help him out of the status quo of unemployment and help him support his family.

So this is a personal story that deals with some adult issues like unemployment and feeling inadequate. Combine that with a vivid and colorful 8-bit world and you get something very different. This pretty much sums up my own story and I felt I had to do something about my own situation. To keep myself from going crazy from employment – I started programming 8-Bit Boy while looking for a job. So you might say that I also got sucked into this parallel 8-bit world of my own. I really hope you will enjoy 8-Bit Boy and relate to my story.

8-Bit Boy launches on Windows early next year, with versions planned for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii U. While there's no official confirmation, we're taking the wild guess that this is going to be a downloadable title rather than a retail release, so expect to see it on the Wii U eShop some time in 2013.

Damien has over a decade of professional writing experience under his belt, as well as a repulsively hairy belly. Rumours that he turned down a role in The Hobbit to work on Nintendo Life are, to the best of our knowledge, completely and utterly unfounded.